


That Time the Jungle Fury Rangers Went to the Zoo

by predilection



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Jungle Fury, Power Rangers Megaforce
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-11
Updated: 2014-08-11
Packaged: 2018-02-12 09:52:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2105253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/predilection/pseuds/predilection
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Theo blinked at him.  "You want to take your chair to the zoo?"</p><p>"No," RJ said, like that was absurd. "I want <i>you</i> to take my chair to the zoo."</p><p>(Companion piece to "Spirit of the Tiger".)</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Time the Jungle Fury Rangers Went to the Zoo

**Author's Note:**

> A companion piece to the Super Megaforce episode "Spirit of the Tiger" in which Emma and Jake meet Casey at the zoo. I wanted to write a silly fic for this episode to counteract the super serious (and kinda Orientalist) way Casey was written. 
> 
> At the time of writing, I had seen a grand total of three episodes of Megaforce, including the one that inspired this fic. Given that this fic is Jungle Fury-centric, I don't think that actually matters too much.

It was Friday night when RJ said they were taking Saturday off to go to a zoo, leaving the pizza parlour to the new staff RJ had finally hired.

Theo was looking forward to spending his weekend catching up on sleep and curling up with a good book, and so he was not thrilled about the prospect of hanging out at a zoo, especially a zoo in another county. 

"Casey's substitute teaching a Pai Zhua lesson for Master Finn in Harwood County anyway," Lily said, as if that explained anything.

Theo knew he was right to dread RJ's seemingly spontaneous plan to go to a zoo when bright and early on Saturday morning RJ asked Theo if he could carry his lazy-boy.

Theo blinked at him. It wasn't just that RJ had asked him to carry his recliner again, it was that-- "You want to take your chair to the zoo?"

"No," RJ said, like that was absurd. "I want _you_ to take my chair to the zoo."

 

Theo wondered how they were supposed to get the chair through the turn-stiles at the zoo's entrance. One of the ticket takers took a long, hard and incredulous look at Theo, who was carrying the chair mostly over one shoulder, and moved to intercept him. Theo had no idea what he was supposed to say or do when they were inevitably denied entry with the chair.

RJ got between Theo and the ticket taker and the ticket taker stopped in her tracks. "RJ?" she asked. "Is that you?"

"Gloria! How are you?" RJ exclaimed, a big grin on his face. "I finally came for a visit!"

 

Theo deposited the chair in front of the enclosure for the wolves, as per RJ's instructions. Free of his burden, he left RJ to locate Casey and Lily. He found Lily standing by herself at the tiger enclosure, looking down at what Theo assumed were the tigers. Theo made his way through the crowd to Lily's side. 

"Where's Casey?" Theo asked.

Lily pointed into the enclosure.

Lily couldn't be serious, could she? Theo looked down into the enclosure. Sure enough, there was Casey raking the grass not three feet away from a rather large and ferocious looking tiger.

"How did he even get down there?" Theo wondered. He wasn't particular scared for Casey's safety given that it was _Casey_ , but he was pretty sure people who weren't zookeepers weren't allowed that close to the animals.

Lily shrugged. "Apparently, RJ knows some people."

 

Theo and Lily grabbed lunch together at one of the zoo's cafes. They also went to see the gorillas, the lions, and the bird sanctuary before circling back to the tigers, where Theo was not surprised to see Casey, still in the enclosure, chilling with the tigers.

Theo noticed a nearby group of five teenagers staring into the enclosure, and Theo was pretty sure one of them taking photos of Casey instead of the tigers.

"What's that guy thinking?" one of the teenagers said. "One step closer and he's kitty kibble!"

"It's like he's one with the tiger," said another of the teenagers.

Lily hid a smile behind her hand as she and Theo continued to eavesdrop.

Theo grimaced. "I'm not sure Casey's doing a good job of being inconspicuous," he whispered.

"Speaking of inconspicuous," Lily said, linking their arms, "we haven't seen RJ in a while".

 

Theo and Lily ended up going to see the hippos, the zebras, and then the giraffes so it took them awhile to get back to the wolf enclosure where they figured RJ was still hanging out.

 _Well, at least it's not hard to find RJ_ , Theo thought as they turned the corner and the enclosure came into view.

RJ was sitting in his chair, the corduroy lazy-boy looking extremely out of place in the middle of the crowds trying to get a closer look at the wolves. RJ was wearing a pair of sunglasses and in one hand he was holding a bright blue drink with a tiny umbrella sticking out of it. Where he got said drink, Theo was afraid to ask.

"Hey, RJ," Lily said nonchalantly when they were closer, like there was nothing out of the ordinary about the way RJ had chosen to spend his time at the zoo, and like there weren't lots of people looking at them strangely. "How are the wolves doing?"

"They seem pretty chill," RJ said, taking a sip of his drink. 

"Are you just going to sit here all day?" Theo asked. 

As if in response, RJ pulled the lever at the side of his chair until it reclined backwards. RJ appeared to make himself even more comfortable in his chair, lounging languidly. "I love the zoo," he said, raising his glass into the air.

 

Theo's phone buzzed with a text alerting him that Casey was back from his teaching gig.

"He's going to go right back to the tiger enclosure, isn't he?" Theo asked. 

Next to him, Lily grinned. "Probably. Want to get some ice cream?"

 

Theo's phone went off an hour later. Whatever he was expecting, he wasn't expecting a text from Casey that read: _Met two of the local rangers. Training them now. Back in a few hours. :)_

Theo stared at it. "How does that even happen?" 

 

Theo and Lily ended up waiting for Casey by RJ and the wolves. As they waited, Theo spotted the teenagers that he and Lily had eavesdropped on earlier coming towards them. He could tell the exact moment they spotted RJ.

"Is that a lazy-boy?" one of them asked. 

"I think it is," said another.

"It looks like he's watching the wolves."

The one with the camera took a photo. "Maybe he really likes the wolves?"

"Maybe he really likes his lazy-boy."

Beside him, Lily started giggling.

 

Casey finally showed up ten minutes later.

"Hey," he said. "You all have fun today?"

Lily nodded and then smiled at Theo. He found himself smiling back at her. "Today didn't go anything like I expected, but this was fun," he admitted. It was a nice to spend a day hanging out with Lily. 

"How was your day?" Lily asked Casey.

"I'll tell you about it on the way home," he said. 

"Speaking of going home," Theo said, "you're carrying the recliner this time."

 

As they made for the exit, Casey with the recliner slung over one shoulder, two of the teenagers from earlier seemingly popped out of nowhere.

"Casey!" the one with the camera said.

"Oh, hey Emma," Casey said.

_Emma? Casey knew them?_

"That's your lazy-boy?" asked the guy standing next to Emma. He was staring at the recliner and his eyes looked like they were about to burst out of his face.

"Actually, it belongs to RJ," Casey explained, pointing behind him with his free hand.

RJ said, "It's a beautiful chair, isn't it?" 

Casey snorted. "Emma, Jake -- this is Theo, Lily and RJ. Guys, this is Emma and Jake."

"It's nice to meet you," Lily said, coming forward to shake their hands. Theo trailed behind her.

"They're the Harwood County rangers, right?" RJ asked.

Theo blinked, not expecting that. Emma and Jake froze, eyes going wide (well, in Jake's case, wider).

"Uh," Jake said.

Casey laughed. "This is my team," Casey explained.

"You're all rangers?" Jake said, looking back-and-forth between the lazy-boy and RJ.

"Yep," Lily said, smiling at them. She produced a JKP business card out of her back pocket and handed it to Emma. "You should come visit us sometime."

Jake studied the card over Emma's shoulder. "But this is a business card for a pizza parlour."

"It sure is," RJ said. "Best pizza in town, too."

"But you're rangers and you," Jake said, pointing at Casey, "teach kung-fu. And you do all of this at a _pizza parlour_?"

"Yep," Casey said with a grin and a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Theo could tell he was getting a kick out of this. 

"Are you serious?" Jake asked, like he was having troubling wrapping his brain around the concept. Theo could sympathize. 

Emma elbowed Jake in the side. "Thanks again for all your help today," she said to Casey.

"I'm glad I could help," Casey told her.

"It was nice meeting you both," Lily said. Casey gave Emma and Jake a little wave and then they were back on track towards the exit.

 

As they passed through the exit, the person guarding the gate produced a glass filled with a red drink with an umbrella sticking out of it from seemingly nowhere. He handed it to RJ and he didn't bat an eye at the recliner Casey was carrying.

"Fruit juice. For the ride home, sir," the guard explained. 

Theo opened his mouth to ask, and then thought better of it. Next to him, Lily laughed.

RJ grinned. "Have I mentioned that I _love_ the zoo?"


End file.
